Death in June
“Heilige!”
[Rating4.5/5]

Death in June, the very name brings up a strange brew of odd images, and an air of the otherwise esoteric. Death in June was formed out of the ashes of the political punk band Crisis, and began as a trio of Douglas P., Tony Wakeford, and Patrick Leagas. Tony Wakeford left to later form Sol Invictus, and Patrick O’Kill left after 1985 to form Sixth Comm. Death in June has since become solely the work of Douglas P. in collaboration with various friends and like-minded artists.

Their influences range from the literary works of Lautreamont (aka Isidore Ducasse)—Les Chants de Maldoror, Jean Gene, Yukio Mishima. Some of their musical influences have been from European traditional folk music; a band called Love, and Scott Walker. Other influences Death in June have drawn from are Aleister Crowley, Norse Mythology, “The World That Summer” (film), “Night And Fog” (film), “The Night Porter” (film), and both runes and symbology. The album Heilige! Is a recording of “The Final Concert of the 20th Century—9th July 1999 Melbourne Australia”, and it is dedicated “To all those who fight in isolation”.

The album cover is very striking, I believe Douglas P. the lead singer is in his backyard wearing a WW2 German Fallschirmjager helmet and camouflaged parka. He is drinking white wine from a glass with the infamous Totenkopf emblem on it. His left lens on his glasses is tinted for some reason, and you get the feeling like he is holding out hidden in his yard, celebrating perhaps his isolation.

How would you describe Death in June’s sound? Well, they mix a blend of acoustic folk with electronics, and very organic sounding drums. Songs are well structured. They use samples in sparse proportion, and various effects for vocals and overall sound. I would describe their sound to being passive aggressive, the words on track 8 are something you need to hear for yourselves.

They also have a disturbing but very powerful image. Some songs could be described as noise. The first song on this album is called, “Smashed to Bits” and it’s a bit abrasive for the ears, but it has a very haunting presence to it. It reminds me of the ambiance that Skinny Puppy would often use in their early albums like Cleanse, Fold and Manipulate. I won’t get into a detailed review of each song, since this album has twenty songs on it. An interesting side note on this album is that they reworked the famous British nationalistic song “Gloria”, and called it “Despair” as the third track on Heilige!

This album in my opinion represents the sonic strength of Death in June; it simply contains the best work they have done.

Heilige! track list:
1. Smashed to Bits (In the Peace of the Night)
2. Bring in the Night
3. Despair
4. Only Europa Knows
5. The Bunker
6. Little Blue Butterfly
7. Frost Flowers
8. Death of the West
9. Heaven Street
10. Little Black Angel
11. Kameradschaft
12. Giddy Giddy Carousel
13. Ku Ku Ku
14. Runes and Men
15. Rose Clouds of Holocaust
16. Hullo Angel
17. Leper Lord
18. Fall Apart
19. Fields of Rape
20. C’est un Rêve

Personnel:
Douglas P. : guitars, percussion and lead vocals
Albin Julius : tapes, percussion and vocals
John Murphy : percussion and vocal

Review;
October1

Gary Numan
“The Pleasure Principle”
(5/5)
(1979)

This album is it—ground fucking zero for dark electronica of ANY form. Forget about Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV—Industrial, EBM, Darkwave… you name the style, if it isn’t happy, stupid and bubbly electronic music, it owes a permanent debt to the genius of Gary Numan, and The Pleasure Principle was his first completely independent release.

Armed with only a handful of Polymoogs and a backing band consisting of a bass guitarist and drummer, the young Gary Numan made one of the most powerful, lasting and enduring artistic statements in music history. This album is absolutely unprecedented in its innovativeness, and its glory is carried in every one of its tracks. Unlike some notable (and hyped) artists before him like Genesis P. Orridge, Numan’s mastery is not just in his musicianship and the sophistication of his sparse arrangement, but also in the profoundly emotive, revealing nature of his lyrics and vocal delivery. The strength of Gary Numan’s work on The Pleasure Principle is the subtlety and grace in which he tackles subjects such as despair, isoloation, alienation and loss without having to resort to juvenile, staged theatrics or histrionics. A rare feat in the posturing world of electronic music today.

Most famous for its smash hit single “Cars” (which virtually invented the new wave movement with its power), The Pleasure Principle is filled with songs that, despite a 23 year gap since they were recorded, surge with a savage immediacy not found in most music today. Other noteworthy songs include the turgid “Metal”, the sweepingly resonant “Complex”, and the the dire, almost Black Sabbath-like “M.E.” Although filled with short instrumental tracks (the opener “Airplane” is an instrumental) The Pleasure Principle is not short of a ton of classic material.

The recent re-release of this album contains an additional seven songs, many of which are live recordings from 1980 on The Pleasure Principle tour. Speaking of playing live, Numan and his band once again set a new standard—all of the live tracks bounce with energy and precision, proving that electronic music isn’t limited to DAT re-recordings and MIDI sequences alone.

The Pleasure Principle is, however, much more than just an hour’s time spent listening to good electronic music—it is, at the very least, the first chapter of the elecronic musician’s Bible. Take heed of the Numan’s sparse, yet effective, arrangements of synths, percussion and bass. Notice how nothing is overplayed or overproduced. Perhaps due to the limits of technology, Numan was restricted in his options; options which, as musicians in the year 2002, seem almost limitless. Regardless of the reasons behind the production of The Pleasure Principle, Gary Numan proves the point once and for all that understatement is the most majestic quality that any music should seek to possess.

For the electronic musician this album is absolutely essential to have in your collection, if not a majority of Numan’s work (especially the follow up album Telekon). Numan shows us all how it’s done, he does it well, and he did it first. Shamefully, the history of electronic music often undermines or omits Gary Numan’s status as the fountainhead that he was; as a musician yourself, don’t make that same error.

The Pleasure Principle track list:
1. Airplane
2. Metal
3. Complex
4. Films
5. M.E.
6. Tracks
7. Observer
8. Conversation
9. Cars
10. Engineers
11. Random
12. Oceans
13. Asylum
14. Me! I Disconnect From You (live)
15. Bombers (live)
16. Remember I Was Vapour (live)
17. On Broadway (live)

Review;
Technine